Car coupler



Aug. 14, 1934. B. D. LOCKWOOD CAR COUPLER Filed May 17, 1929 INVENTORATTORNEY Patented Aug. 14, 1934 1,969,936 CAR COUPLER Burns D. Lockwood,New Castle, Pa, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Koppel Industrial Carand Equipment Company, MeKees Rocks, Pa., a I corporation ofPennsylvania 1 Application May 17, 1929, Serial No. 363,755,

2 Claims. (01. '21s ss) thereof. However, it is to be understood thatthe details of the draw bar and buffer spring need not be as shown inthe drawing and can be modified to suit the particular needs of the caron which the coupler. is used.

The essential elements of my invention comprise a draw head 3 having acoupling pin projecting through openings 11 in the forward portion ofthe draw head to maintain a coupling link 12 within the draw head theupper rearward portion of the draw head having a recess 13 into whichthe link 12 may be retracted when not in use. To the rear of thecoupling pin and extending transversely of the draw head in a positionto engage with the coupling link is a guide member 14 which engages withthe link as it is moved inwardly and guides the link upward and into therecess 13. Pivotally mounted on thedraw head is a cover 15 which extendsover theend of the recess 13 and has a latch member 16 pivotallyattached thereto. The latch member' 16 extends downward through thecover into the recess 13"and is lifted by the link mov-' ing intoretracted position and as the end of the link moves beyond the end 17 ofthe latch, the latch falls downward-by reason of its own weight andautomatically engages with the link looking it into retracted position.The cover member 15 serves the purpose of preventing de-' bris fromentering the recess 13 and preventing the link 12 from moving freely inthe recess.

The link member 12 has the rearward portion thereof'defiected upwardfrom the plane of the major portion of its length so as to facilitatethe entrance of the link into the recess 13 and to' prevent bindingbetween the link 12, draw head 3 and the portion '2 of the coupler whenthe draft springs are fully compressed by the cars moving towards eachother as is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

The coupling pin 10 is movably mounted in the openings 11 at the forwardportion of the draw head 3 and performs the double function of engagingwith the link of the adjacent car to which its respective car is beingcoupled and also preventing the removal of the link 12 from the drawhead. This coupling pin comprises the handle portion 19 and the linkengaging portion 20 and has at one end of the portion 20 an enlargedportion 21 which is small enough to pass between the sides of the linkmember 12 but is too large to pass through the opening 11A at the top ofthe coupler, and for this reason cannot be readily lost or stolen fromthe draw head. Mounted on the portion 20 of the pin is a washer member22 which My invention lies in the provision of a coupler for cars of thetype which employ link and pin means for joining the cars together.

An object of my invention is to provide such a coupler in which thenumber of parts is reduced to a minimum and so secured together thatthey may not be easily separated and lost or stolen.

Another object of my invention is to provid a coupler which may beapplied to both ends of a car and which may be operated by the trainmanwithout excessive risk of personal injury.

Another object of my invention is to provide a coupler in which thecoupling link, when inactive, may be retracted into a position toprevent possible injury thereto when using the link of the opposingcoupler on the other car to conple the cars together, and to avoid itsinterference with the coupling link which is being used, and which maybe easily moved and automatically secured into retracted position.

Refer ing now to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows the position of the couplerswhen moved together into coupling position and the inactive link ismoved into retracted position; Fig. 2 shows the couplers of twoconnected cars when the buffing springs of the two cars are fullycompressed and the resultant position of the active and inactivecoupling links.

Referring now to the drawing where like reference characters refer tolike parts, reference character 1 indicates a coupler comprising astationary portion 2 secured to the car body and a draw head 3 to whichis secured the draw bar 4. The portion of the draw bar which is securedto the car body and to the buifing springs which transmit the bufiingshocks away from the coupler and car body and the method of attachingsame to the car body form no part of my present invention, and for thatreason have been omitted. In this connection it will sufiice to say thatthe member 5 is moved along the draw bar 4 until the required tension inthe draft springs is obtained and the pin 6 is inserted through themembers 4 and 5, locking them into position. In the present embodimentof the invention it is necessary to fully compress the draft springs, asshown in Fig. 2, until the opening 18 in the member 2 coincides with theopenings 7 in the member 3 after which the pin 6 may be readily insertedand fastened into position. A portion of the draft springs is shown incross section at 8 and is shown encircling the member 3 and abuttingagainst the shoulder 9 has an inside diameter slightly larger than thediameter of the portion 20 so as to be freely movable thereon and has anoutside diameter larger than the opening between the sides of the linkmember 12 so that once the link member of the individual coupler isengaged by its respective coupling pin the coupling. link 12 cannot bereadily lost or stolen. The coupling pin 10, as was stated. consists ofthe handle portion 19 and the portion 20 which is engaged by the handleportion and in; assembling the individual coupler the portion 20 isremoved from the handle and the end to be engaged by the handle isinserted into the lower portion of the draw head through. theopening 11,through the washer 22, link 12 and the upper opening 1l-A of the drawhead. The handle member 19 is again mounted on the portion 20 and thepin member 23 inserted'through the members 19 and 20 looking them intoengagementwith. each other.

When itisproposed' to couple twocars together as shown in .Fig. 1, thefollowing actionswould take placez-Assuming that the link 12 of bothcouplersis in extended position, the link of one of the couplers such asthat shown on the leftside of Fig. 1 would be moved into retractedposition. This would be done by. moving the link inwardly. of the drawhead where it strikes the portion 14. of the draw head and isdefiectedupward until the inner end of the link. engaged with the portion-24 ofthe draw head which is suitably formed so as to guide the link upwardand yet prevent binding as the link engages with the portion 25. of thestationary portion 2. of the coupler. The continued movement of the linkcauses it to pass into the recess 13 where it is automatically engagedbythe latch member 16 when in fully retracted position as shown. As thetwo cars now approach each other, the coupling pin 10 of thecoupler atthe left side of Fig. 1 is raised until the portion 21 of the pinengages with the washer 22- forcing the washer into engagementwith thelink 12 and lifting the link out of the way of the entering link of theapproaching coupler after which the pin is dropped through the enteringlink 12 and the opening 11 in the lower portion of the draw head,

coupling the cars together.

The position of the respective couplersand coupling linkwhen the carsare in. motion and the couplers are separated the length of the. link 12has not been shown sincethere would not be any change in the relativeposition of any of the parts of the two couplers with-the exception ofvthe separation of the couplers to an amount equal to the length of theconnecting link. However, when the cars are buffing one against theother and the bufling springs of the two cars are being compressed thereis a change in the relative position of the parts of the variouscouplers and their extreme position is shown by Fig. 2 in which thebuffer springs of both cars have been fully compressed and thestationary portion 2 of the coupler hasv moved forward along the drawhead into its extreme forward position as shown. As the portion 25 ofthe member 2 moves along the draw head, the retracted link member 12 islifted causing the upper end of the link to lift the cover member 15 andconsequently move the link member into engagement with the portion 24 ofthe draw head. This upward movement of the cover member frees the latchmember from the link and permits the link to assume the position shownon the left side of Fig. 2. The active link coupling the two carstogether may proportion itself between the two cars, or may shift to oneside until one end of the link is in engagement with one of the couplingpins and the other end of the link would strike with the guide portion14 of the draw head. and move up into the recess 13 and prevent anybinding between the links themselves or the link and draw head. Afterthe bufilng shock has been dissipated and the member 2 of the couplermoves to its normal position as indicated by Fig. 1, the links wouldmove downward by reason of their own weight and the latch member 16would again automatically engage with the retracted link and retain itin retracted position.

Having thus. described the invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In acar coupler in combination a body portion, a movable head, acoupling link within said. head and a coupling. pin movably mountedwithin said head and constantly held within said link, an upwardlydeflected end portion on said link disposed inwardly of said pin, and anopening in the rear of said head for receiving said deflected endportion of the link when the link is moved to retracted position, and alatch mounted upon said head for. holding said link in retractedposition. saidlatch so holding said link as to permit limited movementof the link in retracted position without accidental separation of thelink and latch.

2. In a. car coupler, in combination, a drawhead, a coupling linkwithinsaid head, an opening in said head for reception of the link inretracted position, a coupling pin mounted in said head,

